POT+AGU merger is on

The merger of equals between PotashCorp and Agrium was confirmed to be moving ahead this morning, in a press release announcing their boards’ unanimous approval of the plan “to Create a World-Class Integrated Global Supplier of Crop Inputs.”

“A new parent company will be formed to own both companies. PotashCorp shareholders will receive 0.400 common shares of the new company for each common share of PotashCorp they own, and Agrium shareholders will receive 2.230 common shares of the new company for each common share of Agrium they own.”

I’ll write more in due course, but my previous post described the new, combined combined company having a North American market share (by ammonia capacity) of 20.9%. That’s relative to CF Industries’ 37.6% and Koch Industries’ 11.0% – excluding assets in Trinidad & Tobago.

“The new company will be a leader in the fertilizer industry with close to 20,000 employees, operations and investments in 18 countries, and a pro forma enterprise value of US$36 billion … the new company would have had net revenue of approximately US$20.6 billion and EBITDA of US$4.7 billion before synergies,” which they calculate as being “up to $500 million”.